A Small Protest in San Pedro; Tour Guide Sends a Message to Leaders

Oscar Iboy

The state of emergency is limiting the size of gatherings, but it did not stop a four-man protest staged today in front of the San Pedro Town Council on Ambergris Caye which has been closed since last week. Tour guide Oscar Iboy is sending a message to the government; he says government has not made the right decisions for San Pedranos. One of the main reasons for the protest, says Iboy, is that the mayor has not been able to give clear solutions on the way forward. In his statement, Iboy expresses the socio-economic challenges facing island residents who have lost their source of income.

Oscar Iboy, Tour Guide

“Because of someone else responsibility all the citizens and community have been scolded, disrespected, discriminated and blamed for this disaster; even by our own local servants and we would like to remind the public that they are public servants, not leaders. We are here on behalf of thousands of our community members that are being affected at this moment because of this pandemic and no solution has been brought forward by our local servants or central government. It is like we are on our own. To be clear, this is not any political attack on you, but the residents of the island deserve to know more about what is the solution that will move us forward. Wearing facemasks, staying at home will not feed our family members and even worse, paying the utility bills that are pouring in. Just this month, I was called by BWS to come and pay my bills three times. I am a tour guide and like hundreds of my fellow Belizeans here and thousands more are dependent on the tourism industry and we haven’t seen a dollar since March. And the only thing that has been sustaining a lot of our tour guides is a little fishing that was almost taken away if we didn’t stand up against the laws that make absolutely no sense.”